1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of hand-held cleaning appliances. More particularly, it pertains to a stand-up dust pan for use by persons walking about hotel and movie lobbies to remove spilled or dropped items before they can be walked into the carpet, and to a novel dust pan that can be used and emptied without the user soiling his or her hands.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There will always be the need to clean a rug or carpet. Especially where many people congregate, such as in the lobby of a movie or a hotel; accidents, such as inadvertently dropping food, paper, and the like, combined with the law of gravity, will always produce the same result, namely, something dropped on the floor to create a mess. Before the item is crushed into the carpet by other patrons, moving and milling about, the owner, manager, or other attendant hurriedly arrives with a "lobby" dust pan to sweep the item into the pan, often accompanied by a disapproving stare at the guilty patron, to remove the "offending" item.
Historically, the "lobby" dust pan has been a metal (stamped steel) pan, hingedly mounted at the sides to an upright, elongated member with a handle at the top, where the pan rotates upward into the vertical when not in use. When used, the rear wall of the pan is contacted with the carpet and the handle lowered to rotate the pan into full horizontal contact with the floor. A small broom is used to sweep the offending item into the low silhouette pan and the handle thereafter raised, to pitch the front of the pan upward thereby capturing the item in the pan. When taken to a remote area, the pan is again pitched downward and the item expelled into a trash container.
There are certain drawbacks to this device in its present form that do not make it popular with janitorial personnel and may be part of the reason these persons appear to have a dour attitude toward those who spill items on the floor. The biggest shortcoming is that the pan is made with a low silhouette to allow it to be hung on a wall without projecting into the room. However, this low silhouette makes it extremely difficult to remove gooey or sticky items from the pan, especially those that have fallen to the rear of the pan. One must reach into the pan and pry the sticky item out of its hiding place resulting in dirty fingers and hands and possible injury to finger nails.
Another drawback is that the low silhouette of the pan prevents one from lining the interior with any sort of throw-away bag or covering. Further, if the item is not removed, it may cause a noxious odor to permeate the air and offend the patrons gathered there. Even further, the pan requires constant cleaning to insure against a buildup of dirt and debris that causes undesirable odors. Usually, such a cleaning is not accompanied by a drying cycle so that water remains in the device and corrodes the pan and develop spots of rust particles that drop on the lobby carpet causing discoloration. This requires more cleaning or, more realistically, total replacement of the lobby carpeting, not to mention constant replacing of the dust pan, dust pan which means operating costs will suffer. Accordingly, there is a clear need for a "lobby" dust pan that is free of the disadvantages presently existing in the prior art.